Power Yoga Classes

Power yoga classes range in variety and format. Some power yoga classes include practicing in a heated room. Many of them have roots in the Ashtanga style founded by Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. All power yoga classes aim to purify and strengthen the body and mind. If you are pregnant, or have any medical issues, consult with your physician before trying power yoga classes. Consider trying gentle yoga formats first, if you are a new yogi.

Ashtanga

Ashtanga yoga takes you through three main series of yoga sequences. Each sequence takes about 90 minutes. Ashtanga instructors teach you to do your best to perfect a pose before moving on to the next one. You can expect to hold most poses for five breaths, with some exceptions. For example, in traditional Ashtanga students hold their headstand for up to 25 breaths. Ashtanga is also famous for its vinyasas, which means that students make a movement each time they inhale or exhale.

Bikram

Bikram Choudhury created the Bikram style. Students sweat as they practice a set series of 26 poses in a room heated to 105 degrees. Choudhury designed the poses to work each part of the body. His yoga poses are similar to those found in other styles but have some slight variations, including locking the knees in standing poses and keeping one knee bent in a 90-degree angle in triangle pose. According to the Bikram website, teachers must go through a nine-week immersion before they can teach.

Baron Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga

Baron Baptiste created his own style of hot power yoga. He does not train his instructors to use any set sequence of poses, unlike the Bikram style. Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga classes focus on using intuition during a yoga practice so students can pace themselves. The Baptiste website describes Baptiste Power Yoga classes as a way to renew personal strength, rather than a way to execute simple poses and breathing exercises.

Bryan Kest's Power Yoga

Bryan Kest developed his style of power yoga based on a strong influence of Ashtanga yoga. The Bryan Kest Power Yoga website emphasizes that yoga should feed the spirit and not the ego. Classes build heat, but do not purposefully heat the room. Bryan Kest's yoga studios are in Santa Monica, California, and classes often have more than 100 students at a time.

General Power Yoga Classes

Power yoga classes may involve moving swiftly from one pose to another, holding poses for long periods of time or trying several advanced level breathing techniques and poses. Most power yoga classes borrow the idea of vinyasa from Ashtanga yoga. Other popular forms of power yoga include Mark Blanchard's True Power Yoga and American Power Yoga. Yoga instructor Beryl Birch Bender helped popularize power yoga.